My Pay it Forward project

A year ago today we got the news that my sister-in-law's mother passed away. Brooke's mother, Judy, was lovingly known by many as Grandma "J." Grandma J was one of those rare individuals who always thinks of others before themselves and she loved to craft. Having those two qualities meant that Grandma J was always making things for other people. My first experience with this was for Shane and Brooke's wedding when Judy sewed my bridesmaid dress, along with Brooke's dress and all the other dresses for the wedding party. The first time I met her was when I showed up to try on the dress and she made a comment about how she thought I was supposed to be 5 months pregnant and I looked so skinny, I loved her immediately (incedentally, the dress was gorgeous and fit just fine). I think I only saw Grandma J two more times after that, but each time she made me feel like a million bucks and she loved my children as if they were her own grandchildren. So, when Brooke invited me to join her in a Pay it Forward day for her mom, I said of course. The Pay it Forward day consisted of making something homemade and giving it to someone, as these are the two things Grandma J loved the most. I had a busy day planned on Wednesday, but figured I could probably make some cookies and deliver them to a friend or something easy like that. Then...I got a phone call from a friend who was supposed to make a cake for our Young Women's program that night and she told me that she couldn't do it because her kids were sick with the flu. I thought to myself, "I HATE making cakes, but I'd really like to help out my friend and this could be my Pay it Forward project. So, after school for the day and a trip to the store for eggs, I started the cake at 4pm (the program was at 7pm). Rarely do I have a cake come out of the pan on the first try, but this one came out beautifully and I figured that Grandma J must be watching out for me from heaven. Then came the time to dye all the fondant for the "Olympic" rings (yes, I know they're not like the Olympics, these rings correspond with value colors in the Young Women's program). I like using fondant, it fun like playdough, but edible. However, on a time crunch, working the dye into seven different clumps of fondant was getting to be frustrating. I made it through the work by thinking to myself, "this is for you Grandma J, this is for you." I also had to remind myself that Grandma J would have done the project with a smile, not begrudgingly, so I put on a smile, finished the cake and made it on time for the program. It's nothing fancy really, but I got sooo many complements on the cake for both presentation and flavor. I told everyone my story and I just have to say, "I owe it all to you Grandma J - We love you and miss you, but you're memory lives on in all the homemade projects we make and the service we give."